Claimed by the Crown Heir novel Chapter 97

How did he still have the mood to keep going?

She must have completely lost her mind to let him seduce her into doing something this reckless in the car.

As his lips descended once more, Vanessa quickly snapped her head to the side.

"No!"

"If you don't like it here, we can always find somewhere else."

"Absolutely not."

She had just met Ace tonight, she couldn't turn around and sleep with his nephew.

Alistair's dark eyes narrowed slightly, but he eventually pulled back.

He was never the type to force a woman.

Vanessa immediately looked down, frantically straightening her clothes and re-fastening the frog closures of her dress he had torn open.

Outside the car, Giselle braced herself, stubbornly knocking on the window again and again.

Elaine quickly walked up behind her to join the effort.

Right at that second, the passenger door violently swung open, and Vanessa practically sprinted out of the car.

"Thank you for bringing me home, Mr. Howard."

Elaine immediately grabbed Giselle's arm, dragging her around the hood of the car to peer into the driver's side.

"Mr. Howard..."

Before she could even get the words out, Vanessa slammed the passenger door shut with a deafening bang, violently cutting off their line of sight.

The black Maybach instantly roared to life, melting into the heavy darkness of the night.

Elaine's brows knitted together as she glared at Vanessa. "Vanessa, were you intentionally blocking us?"

They hadn't even gotten the chance to say a simple hello to Mr. Howard.

Vanessa offered a faint, unbothered smile. "You're overthinking it, Elaine. Mr. Howard had urgent business to attend to and was in a rush to leave."

With that, she spun on her heel and headed straight for the front door.

While Elaine went to park the car, Giselle quickly caught up to Vanessa, her tone dripping with bitter resentment.

"Don't go thinking Mr. Howard actually cares about you just because he was being polite.

"He was courteous because he's well-bred, not because he actually likes you!"

Vanessa didn't even break her stride, her voice utterly bored. "And if he doesn't like me, I suppose that means he likes you?"

Both her father and Frank practically worshipped the ground the man walked on. The exaggeration was unreal.

Vanessa let out a quiet sigh in her heart, keeping her expression perfectly neutral. "I wouldn't say I 'like' him just yet. We'll spend some time together and see how it goes."

Her situation with Alistair was a chaotic, tangled disaster.

The harder she tried to sever the connection, the deeper she got dragged under.

"Dad, if she doesn't like him, I can step in for her!" Giselle immediately seized the opening, her voice frantic with desperation. "Mr. Howard is mature and grounded. I actually really liked him."

She had absolutely zero shame. She was blatantly trying to steal the man out from under her.

Vanessa simply picked up a teacup, took a slow sip, and remained entirely unfazed.

"When did you even meet him?" George's gaze snapped to Giselle, sharp as a knife. "You all came back at the exact same time. Don't tell me... you crashed the dinner tonight?"

Giselle shrank back, her eyes darting away in panic.

Seeing her agonizing guilt, George instantly put the pieces together, his face darkening with rage.

"This is utterly ridiculous. Why were you even there?"

At that moment, Elaine walked through the front door, her voice soft and placating. "We were just worried Vanessa would be too nervous for her first meeting with Mr. Howard, so we went to offer our support."